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A Lilo Bootscreen for Debian

Submitted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 27, 2002 – 10:55

Did you notice? All the top commercial distros come with cool graphical lilo bootscreens. Ok, they’re not that useful, but it’s quite nice for a desktop computer running multiple OSes. When I installed Woody a few months ago I noticed that its lilo package supports the graphical boot menu. The only problem is that there is no image you can use for it…Accordingly I had a go at it myself, and I’m quite pleased with the results. Since I like it, I thought there are might be some other people out there who’ll like it too. Everybody who is interested can download the bootscreen here. I’ve included a ready to use bitmap as well as the original Gimp xcf image. A small readme explains the installation and necessary settings in the lilo.conf. And please, tell me what you think of it.

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I have got my nice lilo bootscreen up and running. Makes for a nice change to the default red-text version.

Does anyone know how to modify the tux image while the boot messages are showing. I noticed that the 2.2 kernel has the tux with a beer image (I think it’s beer?) and the 2.4 kernel has the Larry Ewing Tux that we all know and love.

Trouble is when I compile a new kernel I loose my nice penguin.Where is this image?Can I change it?How would I add it to my newly compiled kernel image?

Have upgraded to Woody. Have following the instruction from the README. Have run lilo, no errors. When rebooting, same ol’ same ol’. Not nice image. What gives?

Also, now that I upgraded lilo to Woody, lilo no longer installs into my mbr? Instead is installs to my Linux partition? When I installed lilo for the first time (on Potato) it gave my the option of where to install it (MBR or /dev/hda3). No such configuration message for me this time around. What gives?

Perhaps I must apologize for the phrase I used in the above text: When I talked about all the “top commercial distros” having a nicer lilo I never meant debian to become a SuSE or Mandrake clone. Perhaps some of you got this wrong.

I’m using Debian because it’s not like the commercial distros, and I never had a more stable, fast and complete OS running on my computer before.

But I personaly like a nice bootmenu on my desktop PC, and Debian’s lilo doesn’t have one. The text box is just terrible. So I made one and thought I should share it with others.

Never wanted it to become the default, never wanted everybody to use it. And of course somebody who never reboots doesn’t have any use of bootmenu 😉

For those that have set up graphical boot menus themselves, kudos. I think this is the way it should be–people setting things like this up themselves, instead of it happening out-of-the-box. I would hate to see Debian turn into something with stuff like a graphical LILO boot menu, a graphics-heavy framebuffer configuration (not sure how to refer to it exactly, but if you’ve used SuSE in “text” mode, as opposed to in X, you know what I mean), and a reliance on graphics-oriented system configuration programs.

I know the story is just talking about the LILO boot menu, but others are saying in replies to this story things along the lines of, “Debian would be so much better with the Mandrake installer and the Mandrake configuration utilities…”. This ticks me off. I love Debian for what it is right now. I can install it on a 1.1GHz Athlon, a 25MHz 486SX with 16MB RAM, or a Sparcstation LX, and not have to worry about this sort of bloat breaking or slowing down the system. I know I’ve had my share of frustration with Mandrake’s ineptitude in a non-X environment.

i completely agree. even if i personaly like a graphical lilo i would hate it to be the default in debian.

nevertheless, the images could be included in the official lilo package along with the installation instructions. it could even be an option in the lilo setup scripts, but a simple text message that you can use a graphical menu would be enough.

For a while now I am looking not only for a nice bootmenu but also for a way to set my boot-resolution for the tdfxfb-device in lilo and maybe to even see the bootmessages with a nice background (SuSe has this white background with green borders that looks quite fancy imo).

I tried several things about the resolution at bootup but the only thing that worked so far was setting it with an fbset-script in /etc/init.d/ but that doesnt apply at the very beginning so its not as cool as a real boot into 1024×768-90hz. Hope someone could help.

btw. the debian-bootlogo-patch should be a cool thing too in case you run framebuffer device and would like to see the debian-logo instead of the fat old penguin 😉

Great work.I think lilo should ask the question wouldyou like a text or graphic boot. With thisone being the default graphic on installation.Maybe the default should still be text however.If its too late to mess about with the lilo bootpackage, then can we have these files includedin the package along with the README? I can seeno reason not to do this at a minimum.

The answer is here. There has been an awesome graphical and highly intelligent boot loader for ages. It’s called XOSL, and can be downloaded from www.xosl.org.

It recognises Linux and Windows and many more. To work with Linux, install LILO into the MBR, then when installing XOSL (via a dos partition) set it to find Linux as the old MBR. I have you don’t load LILO into the MBR, anytime you edit the MBR/FAT XOSL forgets where Linux is.

I first installed win98 into a primary partition. Then installed linux into an extended partition and told linux to use the / partition as it’s root and boot device. And then created another extended partition for XOSL and told XOSL to startup from the mbr. Adding windows and linux was your basic point-and-click work, since XOSL auto-detects the mouse and graphic card (for an easy to use gui). And if you want you can even install it with a built-in file system partitioning tool (though I have no experience with that).

It’s very clean. Ridiculously easy to use. And just basically makes lilo look very ancient.

Not sure about grub. I read the instrustions for grub almost a year ago, and it seemed more trouble than it was worth (no disrespect intended).

XOSL is VERY simple to install. Just unzip, run the install.exe and configured via menus. Has support for different screen resolutions. It detects the abilities of your vga card. It installs from DOS or Windows DOS MODE. You can set a default OS to load after x seconds, with hotkeys to load other OS’s. Or you can have a nice graphical menu. Supports mouse also. Am totally wrapt with this program. Newbie friendly. 🙂

That’s why a graphical lilo shouldn’t be the default. Anyway it’s something I won’t miss. There is already a “delay” on bootup just because I’ve to select the system to boot (actually it’s debian for my daily work, a testing partition to try out other distros or stuff and windows for gaming). Doesn’t matter if the lilo menu is graphical and needs a half second longer to load.

But I hope there will be never something like Aurora in Debian. That realy slows things down. Mandrake is anyway terrible slow

Hmm for some reason I have to press capslock to see the picture. It was the same with the textbased lilo, if I didn’t press capslock i never got to see the menu, instead it booted linux directly. Anybody know why this is like it is, and how I can fix it?

Any literal copy can be reproduced or distributed in any physical or electronic medium without my permission.

Translations are also allowed without permission as long as they include a note about who translated it [ziritrion@mail.ru].

Short quotes may be added without my permission.

Derived works and partial distributions of the mini-HOWTO to install lilo with an animated graphical menu must be accompanied either with a literal copy of this file or with a link to a literal copy.

Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, I would like to be notified of such distributions.

In short, I wish to promote the dissemination of this information through as many channels as possible. However, I wish to keep the copyright of this mini-HOWTO document, and I would like to be notified of any redistribution plan.

3. Requirements

1. A lilo package with the SuSE patches (For more information about where to get the packages, read appendix A)2. A lilo configuration tool, a functional lilo.conf file or make the file yourself (not explained in this document)3. A foo.boot file where foo is the name of any file which has an animated menu (For more info about where to get one read appendix B)4. A graphics card which supports VESA mode 640×480 at 256 colours5. Knowledge about how to install packages in your distribution :-).

4. Installation

Install the lilo package you got and configure the /etc/lilo.conf file as you like (either with linuxconf or self-made), now place the foo.boot file in your /boot directory. Add the following line to your /etc/lilo.confmessage = /boot/foo.bootand edit the linetimeout =put the amount of seconds that you want to make the animated screen appear (more than 45 seconds as preference).Save the file and execute the #lilo command in a terminal, now when booting your machine you will see the new menu.

Appendix A

Where do I get the lilo packages with the SuSE patch?

If you are using a rpm-based distribution you can download the rpm from any suse ftp, it is placed on the directoryhttp://algunmirrordesuse /suse/i386/7.3/suse/a1/lilo.rpmIf you use Debian you can download the rpm and turn it to deb with the following command:$fakeroot alien -d lilo.rpm(Here remember to put the lilo package in hold after installing it so apt or dselect will not want to overwrite it with another version)

Appendix B

Where do I get the animated menu files?

You can get them in the following page:http://www.gamers.org/~quinet/lilo/index-en.htmlOn this page there also are instruccions of how to make your own animated screens.

I’ve just added the described lilo bitmap to my Woody box and, along with the use of TrueType under XFree+KDE, it does go another step in making Debian more palatable for the unwashed masses. I don’t reboot my *nix box all the time and yet I’m pleased with the result. Thanks for the tip!

BTW: while I think it’s too late to add such little detail to Woody in time for the release (though one can wish: how hard can it be to add the option to the installer?), I do hope that the next version of Debian will incorporate such niceties.

… for desktop users maybe. but debian was never intended as a desktop distro (although it works fine as one if you’re a good power user), and X11 installers cause problems (such as non-existant drivers and loss of control and lockups). look at Progeny if you wanna see Debian more X-ified

yes, this is true. but as i said you need to be “a good power user” to use Debian for your desktop. the same goes for FreeBSD or Slackware. i have used all three on my [desktop] pc. you need to understand concepts and processes that most/many desktop users don’t know about or care about. that’s why they all use Mandrake and RedHat. so, yes, Debian is nearly perfect, but that doesn’t mean it is without effort (because then it wouldn’t be quite so perfect)

just to let you know there is a gui bootup screen for linux its called aurora i think, its part of mandrake 8.x and also i beleive 7.2. Anyway its quite nice looking but from what i remember it supported only redhat based distros, but i would assume it isnt too hard to make it work with Debian.

I shall try and find a link and post it. Btw if u want to see it isntall a copy of mandrake, it also uses the lilo gui bootmenu. Mandrake is basically a very easy to use linux distro (its what i started out on) anyway its mostly gui so for ex windows users its a great starting point….. although the console still rox.

I installed mandrake a few months ago and was surprised how easy and fast it was to install.

However it has the same problem most commercial distros have: Since the developers want to include the latest features many packages are often untested and buggy. e.g. the KonCD package was absolutely unusable and the fonts in kde nerly unreadable. And it took quite a long time until the system was completely started up.

For me it’s no alternative to Debian. But Debian users and developers should take a lokk on Mandrake. Especially the installer is great.

Thats what im saying, if you wanted to make debian more “user friendly” then thats what you should aim for. Mandrakes installation process and setup of everything is extremely easy, but it does have a downside. Being easy lots of n00b’s tend to install and use it, you know those that want to use linux to be “cool” but dont want to learn anything. The ones that bitch about linux not being able to do anything. I myself do feel that linux installations should not be made any easier for debian, keep it the way it is because it keeps out many of those that dont want to learn. Still i do like the idea of having nice bootup screens and stuff, although having lots of incomprehensible(to non linux users) text scrolling up the screen does look cool.

I have to agree… I remember the first time I tried installing debian… I spent 48hours and I still hadn’t gotten through it…

Xfree I didnt configure through debian – I stole it from my old redhat install 😛

Ofcourse now I’m more skilled and can get debian installed with a proper self-configged kernel in a matter of minutes…

I’d say we should strive to include an optional GUI installer ala Mandrake’s… I don’t see why this great distribution shouldn’t be accessible to everyone… fine – some don’t wanna learn, but some do want to learn – if they don’t get put off as early as the installation process…

I don’t think this is the way Debian should develop. SuSE, RedHat and Mandrake are doing their part for the linux community: bringing the system to a wider range of users. Not everything they do is bad (well, apart of gcc 2.96, broken packages and bugs and…)

A graphical lilo is surely a nice feature for people who often reboot into different systems. As soomebody else said above this “nasty red” lilo textmenu is terrible to look at.

After all nobody has to use a graphical lilo, but whoever wants can do it.

I offered the conferted rpm’s (debs) from suse months ago. I had the penguins screen installed right away. People simply bashed me when I offered them. Very simply tip. Get the suse rpm’s wich are needed for the animated screen use alien on them and instal! And you have your lilo bootscreen right away. Please note that you shouldn’t update lilo with apt-get else you’ll destroy lilo

I’m doing those boot screens right now in Debian. Just just alien to convert the rpm and install it. Only problem I had was debian tried to overwrite it again with newer versions, so actually (IIRC) I used alien to extract the rpm, edited the debian control file making mine version 999 or something, then made a deb out of that. Or you just just alien install the RPM and set lilo to ‘hold’ in dselect.

Ok, I tried it and i worked (thanks). But wouldn’t it be cool if this worked without using “foreign” packages? Personally I don’t like doing these special tricks to my debian, and what you are doing is stopping any upgrade of lilo for all time… Which can’t be good.

Can’t we do the same for Grub? Since it’s become more user friendly, e.g., grub-install ‘(hd0)’, and commercial heavy weights like RedHat use it — why shouldn’t Debian? I use Grub on all my computers at home and servers at work (as well as private ones I admin). Privately I mostly use it because of the multiboot standard compliance, it lets me boot my Hurd for instance. But apart from that I consider it to be the superior boot loader due to its easy configuring. What ever happened to the Linux Progress Patch project? Using a more graphical bootloader, be it lilo/palo/silo or grub, and then the simple graphical progress loader without the ugly bootup messages. If we had that, we’d spur more attention to Debian. Attention from geeks normally result in interest which gives momentum. And Linux (preferrably Debian GNU/Linux) still needs momentum. Even though it’s just useless graphical nonsense. Which this really is all about. 🙂

How is grub coorporating with Win2k?More specific how is it running with disks connected to a PCI IDE controller? GRUB rendered my machine unbootable a number of times when running win98. The bootloader seems to be a little buggy when used on my HPT-370 UDMA100 controller. With win98 it’s simple to restore the bootsector by booting with a bootdisk and running fdisk /mbr. But this isn’t working with NTFS disks containing win2k… 🙁 side question… is there a tool similar to mkbootdisk from RedHat for Debian?

yes it gets set on a line by itself in menu.lst. and it works great with the grub from debian. nothing to hack at all, just point it at a suitable image. i’ve always used xpm, not sure what other formats may be supported.

Nor does lilo. Every arch has it’s own bootloader, and has since the outset of ports. Base is a different set of packages depending on the architecture. Check out the source to debootstrap for the canonical list.

If you say so. I never reboot my Debian boxen, other than for kernel upgrades. Since I got a couple discounted APC UPS’s, I’ve accumulated a good bit of uptime… about 5 months or so, which was when I purchased the UPS’s.